Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) was the target of a large growth in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,160,000 shares, a growth of 7.4% from the December 15th total of 1,080,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 529,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.2 days. Approximately 1.7% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Popular Stock Performance

Popular stock opened at $99.64 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $96.36 and a 200-day moving average price of $96.75. Popular has a fifty-two week low of $79.50 and a fifty-two week high of $105.01. The company has a market capitalization of $7.11 billion, a PE ratio of 13.54, a P/E/G ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 0.81.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The bank reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.33 by ($0.17). The business had revenue of $736.56 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $766.62 million. Popular had a net margin of 12.36% and a return on equity of 11.35%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.90 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Popular will post 8.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Popular Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.81%. This is a positive change from Popular’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. Popular’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.04%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Adorno Denissa Rodriguez sold 1,825 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.71, for a total value of $178,320.75. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 3,332 shares in the company, valued at approximately $325,569.72. This trade represents a 35.39 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Beatriz Castellvi sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.16, for a total transaction of $347,060.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 25,115 shares in the company, valued at $2,490,403.40. This trade represents a 12.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.13% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Popular

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Popular by 2.9% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 77,291 shares of the bank’s stock worth $6,835,000 after purchasing an additional 2,159 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Popular in the 2nd quarter worth $444,000. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its position in shares of Popular by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 4,087 shares of the bank’s stock worth $361,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado boosted its position in shares of Popular by 172.7% in the 2nd quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 3,319 shares of the bank’s stock worth $293,000 after purchasing an additional 2,102 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. boosted its position in shares of Popular by 7.7% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 304,483 shares of the bank’s stock worth $26,925,000 after purchasing an additional 21,844 shares in the last quarter. 87.27% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on BPOP. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Popular from $108.00 to $96.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Popular in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $104.00 price objective for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Popular from $103.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of Popular from $112.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Popular from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $108.25.

Popular Company Profile

Popular, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides various retail, mortgage, and commercial banking products and services in Puerto Rico, the United States, and the British Virgin Islands. The company provides savings, NOW, money market, and other interest-bearing demand accounts; non-interest bearing demand deposits; and certificates of deposit.